HOUSE OF HR music festival a resounding success

Roeselare, 12 September 2022. For the first time in its history, House of HR’s employees were able to actually gather together in one location. Last Saturday, House of HR organised a gigantic music festival for 3,500 employees with performances by The Venga Boys, Martin Solveig , Bob Sinclair, and others. The House of HR used this initiative to treat its staff as a way of saying thank you for their dedication, which has made House of HR a successful European HR service provider in recent years. With this festival, House of HR also wants to inspire companies to continue investing in their staff in economically challenging times.

100% custom-made

Last Saturday, House of HR, one of the leading HR service providers in Europe, organised the ‘House of Happy Rebels Festival’ for more than 3,500 employees at the festival ground E3 Strand near Eindhoven. The staff came from 5 different countries to enjoy their own custom-made festival day.
 

More than 20 different acts performed on 3 stages. The highlights were national and international stars such as The Venga Boys, Goose, Martin Solveig and Bob Sinclair. The House of HR staff had been surveyed to help choose the line-up. Their own musical colleagues were also given a place on the stage. This led to three ‘House’ bands performing in front of an elated audience after winning an internal competition.
 

Besides music, the 10 main House of HR companies also took to the stage, including Accent, Continu Professionals, Redmore and TIMEPARTNER. During their acts, including a real team party, some colleagues were surprised, promoted, and even asked for their hand in marriage. CEO Rika Coppens opened the festival together with the 10 CEO’s of the main House of HR Brands, by welcoming the staff during an act with Guga Baúl. Four months ago, she had also enthusiastically announced the festival with a skydive. Staff got into the right mood a week before the festival with a full day of spectacular Happy Rebel Radio, hosted by Marcel Vanthilt.
 

House of HR organised the entire festival. It was 100% custom-made for the staff including its own app and merchandising. ‘This gave us the freedom to create a unique House of HR “full festival” experience,’ says Victoria Hemelaer, CMO of House of HR. ’Organising the festival ourselves was a huge challenge. We are very proud of the outcome. It was wonderful to see how all our colleagues went crazy and enjoyed a 100% custom-made first-class experience. You could really feel that we are one big family when, together with 3,500 colleagues, we sang our version of “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” with our own adapted lyrics. Everyone was really, really enthusiastic, that was the highlight for me.’

HOHR staff all together for the first time
 

The various companies in House of HR had asked us to organise such a large-scale festival. On the one hand, we needed a fantastic post-coronavirus party with all of our colleagues. On the other hand, House of HR wanted to thank its staff for their years of dedication and the significant growth it has achieved in recent years.
 

In the meantime, House of HR has become a European leader in its sector with more than 50 brands and achieved a 2 billion euro turnover milestone in 2021. This now provides the size and financial clout to treat staff to a unique festival. This is the first time since the creation of House of HR that all the staff from 50 companies in different countries actually got together in one location.
 

Since employees visited from a variety of places, the Happy Rebels Festival was an excellent opportunity to socialize. Each brand had a luminous wristband with a specific colour, so colleagues from other brands could easily be spotted for a chat. Once it got dark, the wristbands made for a spectacular and colourful light show.

 

Rika Coppens, CEO House of HR: ’We chose Eindhoven as the central location so that our colleagues from Eastern and Southern Europe would not have to travel too far. Looking at where most of our people come from, a location on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands was ideal for such an event. We promoted public transport and also used shuttle buses to the campsite. The sustainable aspect was also important to us, so we only used eco-friendly cups and packaging and had dedicated recycling bins. We compensated the CO2 emissions we created by supporting an eco-project. In brief, it was a festival with lots of visitors, but with minimal impact on the environment and surroundings.’

 

Continuing to invest in staff in challenging times
 

A recent study by the Antwerp Management School and the Vrije University Amsterdam commissioned by House of HR (*) shows that a long-term career job is associated with job satisfaction, health and productivity. What is noteworthy is that staff consider job satisfaction as most important, more than health and productivity. For example, 55.6% of respondents consider mental health as very important and 45.8% of respondents attach great importance to job satisfaction.
 

So, employers in today’s labour market must take strong measures to retain talent. In January this year, 289,249 Belgians were looking for work and yet the war on talent is fiercer than ever. Labour shortages have also made employees more selective than before.

House of HR is convinced that even in these economically challenging times, companies wanting to retain and attract talent must continue to invest in initiatives that enhance job satisfaction. In line with the research, employees are attracted to companies with whom they think they have a click. Employer branding activities that capitalise on these symbolic values are crucial today.
 

By organising this festival, House of HR wants to inspire and encourage companies to continue investing in their staff’s job satisfaction, says Rika Coppens, CEO House of HR: ‘We want to offer our staff a workplace that is a 100% match both personally and professionally. Today, you have to give your all to attract new talent and retain your current staff. The atmosphere before, around, and at the festival shows how much we are a House of HR family. This connection was reinforced during the festival. It ensures we can radiate even more pride and that our employees can continue to grow in a positive environment.’
 

(*) In the fourth quarter of 2021, the Antwerp Management School and the Vrije University Amsterdam conducted a large-scale employee survey in Belgium and the Netherlands on behalf of House of HR. An online panel surveyed a representative sample of 1,610 employees about sustainable careers, career mobility, success, goals, proactive career behaviour, and shocks. This study is the first in a series of three white papers that House of HR will publish.

End of press release.